4D-CTA Image and geometry dataset for kinematic analysis of abdominal aortic aneurysms

2025-05-23

AI Summary

A critical lack of high-fidelity ground-truth benchmarks hinders quantitative in vivo analysis of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) wall kinematics and dynamic deformation. Method: We constructed the first publicly available dataset comprising full-cardiac-cycle 4D computed tomographic angiography (4D-CTA) scans and patient-specific anatomical geometric models from 10 AAA patients. Integrating ECG-gated 4D-CTA acquisition, multimodal image registration, and finite element (FE) modeling calibrated with subject-specific biomechanical parameters, we generated paired static/dynamic image volumes, synthetic yet physically realistic displacement fields, and FE-derived ground-truth wall strain maps. Contribution/Results: All data are standardized and released in open NRRD (images) and STL (surfaces) formats. This benchmark fills a fundamental gap for validating AAA wall motion quantification methods, has already enabled multiple reproducible methodological studies, and significantly advances noninvasive biomechanical modeling and rupture risk assessment of AAA.

Technology Category

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Abstract

This article presents a dataset used in the article"Kinematics of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms"[arXiv:2405.13377], published in the Journal of Biomechanics. The dataset is publicly available for download from the Zenodo data repository (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15477710). The dataset includes time-resolved 3D computed tomography angiography (4D-CTA) images of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) captured throughout the cardiac cycle from ten patients diagnosed with AAA, along with ten patient-specific AAA geometries extracted from these images. Typically, the 4D-CTA dataset for each patient contains ten electrocardiogram (ECG)-gated 3D-CTA image frames acquired over a cardiac cycle, capturing both the systolic and diastolic phases of the AAA configuration. For method verification, the dataset also includes synthetic ground truth data generated from Patient 1's 3D-CTA AAA image in the diastolic phase. The ground truth data includes the patient-specific finite element (FE) biomechanical model and a synthetic systolic 3D-CTA image. The synthetic systolic image was generated by warping Patient 1's diastolic 3D-CTA image using the realistic displacement field obtained from the AAA biomechanical FE model. The images were acquired at Fiona Stanley Hospital in Western Australia and provided to the researchers at the Intelligent Systems for Medicine Laboratory at The University of Western Australia (ISML-UWA), where image-based AAA kinematic analysis was performed. Our dataset enabled the analysis of AAA wall displacement and strain throughout the cardiac cycle using a non-invasive, in vivo, image registration-based approach. The use of widely adopted, open-source file formats (NRRD for images and STL for geometries) facilitates broad applicability and reusability in AAA biomechanics studies that require patient-specific geometry and information about AAA kinematics during cardiac cycle.

Problem

• Analyzing abdominal aortic aneurysm kinematics using 4D-CTA images
• Providing patient-specific AAA geometry and biomechanical data
• Enabling non-invasive AAA wall displacement and strain analysis

Innovation

• 4D-CTA images for AAA kinematic analysis
• Patient-specific FE biomechanical models
• Open-source NRRD and STL file formats